Day exceptional on, off ice

by Rob Benneian

We always question that which we don’t understand.

That is never more apparent than when someone or something is deemed to be a cut above the rest.

When Sean Day was granted exceptional status March 21, allowing him to enter the Ontario Hockey League a year early at age 15, the decision was greeted with more skepticism than enthusiasm in the hockey community.

In 2005, John Tavares became the first player Hockey Canada bestowed this honour upon and he was drafted first overall by the Oshawa Generals.

Six years went by before Belle River’s Aaron Ekblad, a defenceman out of the Sun County Panthers program, was nabbed by the Barrie Colts with the first pick in the 2011 OHL Priority Selection.

Connor McDavid, a native of Newmarket, Ont. and the star of the 2012 OHL Cup for the runner-up Toronto Marlboros, followed suit when the Erie Otters made him the number one pick in last year’s draft.

Unlike the three exceptional players preceding him, there is some uncertainty surrounding whether Day will be selected first overall at the OHL Priority Selection April 6.

The Ottawa 67’s hold the first pick in the draft followed by the McDavid’s Otters.

Rumours ran rampant the 67’s would tag Day with the dubious distinction of becoming the first exceptional player not selected first overall even before Hockey Canada announced their decision on his eligibility.

Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs forward Travis Konecny, equal parts flash and dash, impressed scouts in helping his team reach the 2013 OHL Cup quarterfinals, where they were eventually downed by Dylan Strome and the Toronto Marlboros. Konecny and Strome have been the long-rumoured first and second picks, respectively, and Day’s approval by Hockey Canada has done little to displace them.

Hockey fans and the media alike have taken this as an indictment of Day’s abilities, rather than the resounding vote of confidence it should be seen as for both Strome and Konecny.

Those who see Day’s perceived inability to unseat his two challengers for the throne assume he is less worthy than the three exceptional players who came before him.

They couldn’t be more wrong.

Ontario Hockey Federation executive director Phillip McKee said a player’s draft ranking did not determine their exceptional status, but rather if it would be detrimental for the player’s development not to move up.

Perhaps more so than needing to prove one’s exceptionality in-game, prospective candidates must prove they can handle the mental rigours of playing the game against much older competition.

“Hockey Canada looks for not only being exceptional on the ice,” Ekblad explains. “Anyone can see a great player is great on the ice but to be a great person too is huge. That’s what Hockey Canada looks for.”

Exceptional players-to-be must write an essay on what they believe makes them exceptional and pass a psychiatric evaluation.

They aren’t just fielding softball questions, either.

Day was put through a four-hour psychological examination, during which he was asked questions his father Keith said he wouldn’t have known how to answer.

A common theme among the four players Hockey Canada has deemed fit to carry the title of exceptional is a sense of humility.

When asked to describe what he thought made him exceptional, Ekblad deflected the question away from his own considerable ability.

“I don’t really want to talk about myself,” said the Colts 6-foot-4 rearguard.

Ekblad was named the winner of the 2012 Emms Family Award, presented annually to the OHL’s top rookie, as did Tavares six years previously. McDavid finished second in rookie scoring to Sarnia Sting forward Nikolay Goldobin, who is two years his senior.

For his part, Day is refusing to make the target on his back even larger by setting such lofty goals.

“I’m just looking to help out a team, whoever takes me,” Day said. “I’m not looking to do anything special but play and help out the team.”

If history is any indication, he will do much more than that.